Table 1 Major vaccines in commercial use for COVID-19 mitigation together with clinical trials

PiCoVacc (inactivated vaccine)

Inactivated SARS-CoV particles + Alum adjuvant (Inactivated)

Phase III

Sinovac Biotech

Produces neutralizing antibodies against spike (S) protein

Ura et al. (2021), Noor (2021b), Gao et al. (2020)

BNT162: a1, b1, b2, c2 (RNA vaccine)

Lipid nano-particle (LNP)-encapsulated mRNA vaccine encoding spike (S) protein

Phase III

BioNTech, Fosun Pharma and Pfizer

Possible target: spike (S) protein

Ura et al. (2021), Noor (2021b), Noor (2021c)

ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222 (Non-replicating vector vaccine)

Weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus): the genetic material has been added to the ChAdOx1 construct

Phase III

AstraZeneca, University of Oxford

Possible target: spike (S) protein

Ura et al. (2021), Noor (2021c)

mRNA-1273 (RNA vaccine)

Lipid nano-particle (LNP)-encapsulated mRNA (RNA) vaccine encoding spike (S) protein

Phase III

Moderna, NIAID

Possible target: Spike (S) protein

Ura et al. (2021), Noor (2021c)

Ad5-nCoV (Recombinant vaccine)

Adenovirus type 5 vector; i.e., non-replicating viral vector (expressing S protein)

Phase III

CanSino biologicals

Possible target: spike (S) protein

Ura et al. (2021), Noor (2021c)

INO-4800 (DNA vaccine)

DNA plasmid encoding S protein delivered by electroporation

Phase I-II

Inovio pharmaceuticals, CEPI, Korean Institute of Health, International Vaccine Institute

Possible target: spike (S) protein; triggers the T cell- and antibody response; hinders viral mRNA transcription

Ura et al. (2021), Noor (2021b), Kaur and Gupta (2020), Li et al. (2021), Baden et al. (2021)

Ad26.COV2.S (Ad26 vector based vaccine)

Seven variants of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein sequences which have been codon optimized and synthesized

Phase III

Janssen Vaccines and Prevention B.V. (Johnson & Johnson)

The most divergent group of vaccine with S protein variants as target; triggers (1) S-specific and RBD-specific antibody responses; (2) cellular immune responses: IFN-γ + CD4 + and CD8 + T cell responses

Ura et al. (2021), Mercado et al. (2020)

Gam-COVID-Vac/ Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine (two-vector vaccine)

Recombinant replication-defective adenovirus serotype 26 + serotype 5

Phase III

Gameleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology

Possible target: spike (S) protein

Ura et al. (2021)

LV-SMENP-DC vaccine (lentiviral vector vaccine)

Prepared by engineering dendritic cells (DC) with the lentiviral vector expressing synthetic minigene which are based on domains of selected viral proteins

Phase I

Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute

Possible target: structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2; activates the cytotoxic T cells

Noor (2021b)